Surgical device for removing tissue cells form a biological structure especially for liposuction

ABSTRACT

In order to reduce the required separating and suction forces on the operational handpiece ( 1 ), the slit of the nozzle ( 8 ) is inclined at an angle (A) in relation to the plane of the axis of the injection cannula ( 5 ) and the angle (A) is selected in such a way that a flat liquid jet ( 9 ) is formed with at least one separation tip ( 10 ) and a first separation edge ( 11 ), in addition to a second separator edge ( 12 ), and a separator surface ( 13 ).

The invention is directed to a surgical device according to the preambleof claim 1.

Such devices are used in surgical hospitals for cosmetic purposes andfor treating illnesses, as well as for harvesting tissue cells that canreproduce.

It is generally known to suction off, for example, excess fatty tissuecells for cosmetic purposes. In a first step, a pressurized workingfluid is injected into the fatty tissue, dissolving the fatty tissue inthe working fluid by a chemical reaction. In a second step, a suctioncannula having a reduced pressure is pushed into the corresponding fattytissue, whereby the suction force tears the fatty tissue completely outof the connective tissue and removes the mixture of dissolved fattytissue and working fluid. The mixture is then collected in a receivingcontainer and subsequently disposed of. The suction cannula is formed soas to have several suction openings that are uniformly distributed aboutits periphery.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,008 discloses a suction device for fatty tissue ofthis type which includes an injection line arranged inside the suctioncannula. The injection line terminates in an outlet opening, from whicha circular liquid jet exits. With his device, the two separate steps ofinjecting working fluid and suctioning off fatty tissue using theworking fluid are now performed simultaneously, so that the surgicalprocedure can be performed in less time and continuously. DE 200 09 786U1 describes a similar suction device for fatty tissue with an injectionline having a slit-like exit opening, from which the jet of the workingfluid exits in a fan-like shape. This fan-shaped fluid jet supposedlyimproves the distribution of the working fluid, so that a larger volumeof fatty tissue can be uniformly removed.

All the aforedescribed suction devices for fatty tissue are designed totear the fatty tissue out of the connected tissue through the combinedeffect of the dissolving power of the working fluid and the force of thesuction flow. However, the combined effect from these two componentscauses problems, because the suction force has a constant value, whereasthe dissolution process by the working fluid is time-dependent. Becausesuction force and dissolving power are not coordinated with each other,the constant suction force is too small at the beginning of thetime-dependent dissolution process, as not enough tissue cells have beendissolved, and is too large at the end of the dissolution process,because the tissue cells have all been exposed at the end of thedissolution process. Consequently, the time during which the tissuecells are exposed to the working fluid is either too long or the tissuecells are exposed to an excessively large suction force. In bothsituations, the tissue cells to be suctioned off as well as tissue cellsthat should be preserved are destroyed. The human body is subjected tostress which complicates and prolongs the healing process.

The suctioned-off fatty tissue cells are destroyed by the suctionprocess and by the detrimental influence of the working fluid and canthen no longer be used.

DE 100 33 278 A1 of the Applicant describes for the first time a devicefor removing tissue cells from a biological structure. The device isprimarily intended to completely separate the excess fatty tissue cellsfrom the adjacent tissue cells by a pressurized fluid jet. The exitopening of the injection line is shaped to form a flat jet is with afrontal cutting edge that operates like a scraping device and thereforeeffectively peels the fatty tissue cells off. The fluid is pressurizedand chemically neutral; the pressurized fluid enters in an intelligentmanner between neighboring smooth and soft fatty tissue cells, urges thetissue cells apart, and thereby mechanically separates the strongtendons that hold the tissue together without destroying the tissuecells. The carefully separated tissue cells together with the neutralfluid are suctioned off by a relatively small suction force and aredischarged, or alternatively, are separated again from the neutral fluidand reused. This type of surgical devices advantageously separates thefatty tissue cells solely by applying the force of the separation jet,whereas the fatty tissue cells are suctioned off together with theneutral fluid by the force of the suction flow. Unlike with prior artdevices, the separation force and the suction force need not be matchedand can be selected independent of each other, with the respectiveforces adjusted to provide the least harmful treatment for the patient.Unlike prior art devices, which produce a fluid intermixed with blood,the novel surgical tissue removal device produces a milky, white suctionflow dominated by fatty tissue cells.

However, even this surgical removal device still causes stress in thehuman body and damage to a large percentage of fatty tissue cells.

It is the therefore an object of the invention to minimize the requiredseparation force and the required suction force of a surgical device ofthis type.

The object is solved by the characterizing features of claim 1.Additional embodiments are recited in the dependent claims 2 to 7. Moreparticularly, the novel surgical device is designed to operate with avery small separation force and with a very small suction force. This isparticularly easy on the human body during a surgical procedure, butalso causes less damage to the tissue cells, which can then be reusedfor other purposes.

One explanation for the very small separation force is that one does nolonger operate with a frontal separation edge, which encounters asignificant resistance due to its width and therefore has to apply alarge force. Instead, with the novel device, the separation tipinitially enters the space between the tissue cells followed by theinclined separation edges, so that the tissue sections to be separatedare no longer loosened by a beating motion, but are instead cut offalong the separation edge. This pure cutting process encounters a verylow resistance, so that the cutting or separation force can be keptsmall. Advantageously, the required cutting force can be selected byselecting the angle α, i.e., the cutting angle of the separation edge.

The required suction force can also be kept very small, which is easy toexplain as follows. Because the separation edge is generally disposedbefore the suction openings and because the separation forces areoriented in the flow direction, i.e., away from the suction openings,all tissue parts that are exposed to the separation forces also tend tomove away from the suction openings. Before the tissue parts that moveaway can be suctioned off, they must first be slowed down, theirdirection must be reversed, and they must be accelerated again. As aresult, the suction force has to overcome both the separation forces andthe inertia of the tissue parts, which represents a complex movementinside the human body. Because of the novel surgical device requires asmaller separation force due to its novel orientation of the flat fluidjet, the recovery process of the tissue parts also requires a smallerforce.

Advantageously, the nozzle slit in the novel surgical device can beV-shaped due to the required small separation and suction forces, sothat very wide separation edges can be formed, which increase theeffectiveness of the surgical device. Advantageously, more than oneseparated flat fluid jet can be used, which also effectively increasesthe operating field.

Those skilled in the art will realize that additional embodiments can beselected without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The invention will now be described with reference to severalembodiments.

It is shown in:

FIG. 1 in a first view, the operating handpiece with a flat jet that isinclined twice with respect to the axis,

FIG. 2 the operating handpiece of FIG. 1 in another view,

FIG. 3 the detail X of FIGS. 1 and 2,

FIG. 4 a view of the operating handpiece with a flat jet that isinclined once with respect to the axis,

FIG. 5 the detail X of FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 the operating handpiece of FIG. 5 with an orientation rotated by180°,

FIG. 7 the detail X of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 the operating handpiece with two flat jets that are inclined withrespect to the axis and angled with respect to each other,

FIG. 9 the detail X of FIG. 8,

FIG. 10 the operating handpiece of FIG. 8 with an orientation rotated by180°,

FIG. 11 the detail X of FIG. 10,

FIG. 12 a view of the operating handpiece with two flat jets that areinclined twice with respect to the axis and arranged with respect toeach other in form of an impeller,

FIG. 13 a different view of the impeller, and

FIG. 14 the detail X of FIG. 12.

The surgical device for removing vital tissue cells from a biologicalstructure includes a fluid separation device for the separating abiological structure, as described for example in EP 0 551 920 B1 of thesame Applicant, and a suction device. Both the fluid separation deviceand the suction device are generally known and are therefore notillustrated herein. The fluid separation device has a supply container,a pressure pump, and an injection line, whereas the suction device has acollection container, a suction pump, and a suction line. The injectionline of the fluid separation device and the suction line of the suctiondevice both terminate in an operating handpiece 1.

The figures in this application show the distal end of the operatinghandpiece 1. The distal end of the operating handpiece 1 includes anouter suction tube 2, whereby the proximal side of the suction tube 2 isconnected with the suction pump of the suction device, and the distalend of the suction tube 2 includes a cone-shaped projection 3 with acenter receiving bore. The suction tube 2 includes one or more rows ofradial suction openings 4 arranged around the periphery of the suctiontube 2 in a particular pattern.

An injection cannula 5 is disposed inside the suction tube 2 andconnected on the proximal side by an injection line with the pressurepump of the fluid separation device. The injection cannula 5 is fittedwith clearance into the center receiving bore of the suction tube 2,whereby the injection cannula 5 protrudes lengthwise by a certaindistance from the through-bore of the suction tube 2. The distal end ofthe injection cannula 5 is formed as an injection nozzle 6 andaccordingly has a conical tip 7 with an apex angle of approximately 90°.One or more nozzle slits 8 with a particular shape and arrangement aredisposed in the conical surface of the conical tip 7.

The various figures depict different embodiments of these particularnozzles slits 8 of the injection nozzle 6 and different arrangements ofthe suction openings 4 in the suction tube 2.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a nozzle slit 8 that is inclined by an angle α ofmaximal 300 with respect to the axial cross-sectional plane of theconical tip 7 and which extends from the edge of the cone diameter tothe visible edge of the conical tip 7. This results in a flat fluid jet9 which is twice inclined with respect to the conical axis and therebyforms a forward separation tip 10 with a first separation edge 11 and asecond separation edge 12. Both separation edges 11 and 12 are arrangedadjacent to the separation tip 10. Also formed is an upper peelingsurface 13, on which the separated tissue parts slide off so as to becarried away towards the suction openings 4 in the suction tube 2. Thesuction openings 4 in the suction tube 2 are hereby arranged in a singlerow in an axial direction of the suction tube 2 and oriented toward theside of the peeling surface 13 and the location of the separation tip10.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a V-shaped nozzle slit 8 having to two branches thatextend from a common tip located on the cone edge of the conical tip 7to the visible edge of the cone tip 7. The two branches of the V-shapednozzle slit 8 subtend an angle of approximately 90°. This forms anangled fluid jet 9 with two frontal separation tips 10 and a firstseparation edge 11 and a second separation edge 12.

The peeling surface 13 is enclosed by the angle of the separation jet 9.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another, likewise V-shaped, angled nozzle slit 8which is mirror-symmetric to the V-shaped nozzle slit 8 depicted inFIGS. 4 and 5 and forms two outside peeling surfaces 13.

Another embodiment is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and FIGS. 10 and 11,respectively. In this embodiment, two V-shaped nozzle slits 8 arearranged with a spacing therebetween. In the embodiment of FIGS. 8, 9,two separation tips 10, a first separation edge 11, a second separationedge 12, as well as two inside peeling surfaces 13 are formed. Twooutside peeling surfaces 13 are formed on the fluid jet as a result ofthe different orientation of the two nozzle slits 8 of FIGS. 10, 11.

Another advantageous embodiment is shown in FIGS. 12 to 14. Two separatenozzle jets 8 are located on either side of the conical tip 7, formingdivergent fluid jets 9, which together have the shape of an impeller. Aforward separation tip 10, a first separation edge 11 and a secondseparation edge 12 as well as a peeling surface 13 are associated witheach fluid jet 9. The suction tube 2 includes two rows of suctionopenings 4, wherein each of the row of suction openings 4 cooperateswith the peeling surface 13 of a corresponding fluid jet 9.

LIST OF A REFERENCE CHARACTERS

-   -   1 operating handpiece    -   2 suction tube    -   3 cone-shaped projection    -   4 suction opening    -   5 injection cannula    -   6 injection nozzle    -   7 conical tip    -   8 nozzle slit    -   9 fluid jet    -   10 separation tip    -   11 first separation edge    -   12 second separation edge    -   13 peeling surface

1-7. (canceled)
 1. A surgical device for removing tissue cells from abiological structure, comprising a fluid jet device for generating afluid jet capable of separation and a suction device for suctioning offseparated tissue cells and the injected fluid, as well as an operatinghandpiece (1) connected with the fluid jet device and the suctiondevice, wherein the operating handpiece (1) comprises an outer suctiontube (2) and an inner injection cannula (5) extending through thesuction tube (2), the outer suction tube (2) and the inner injectioncannula (5) forming therebetween an annular suction channel, the suctiontube (2) includes one or more rows of radial suction openings (4), andthe distal end of the injection cannula (5) is closed by a conical tip(7) and the surface of the conical tip includes a nozzle slit (8) thatforms a flat jet, wherein the nozzle slit (8) is inclined by an angle(α) with respect to the axial plane of the injection cannula (5), withthe angle (α) being selected so that a flat fluid jet (9) with at leastone separation tip (10) and a first separation edge (11) and a secondseparation edge (12), and a peeling surface (13) is formed.
 2. Thesurgical device of claim 1, wherein the angle (α) is formed towards theconical tip (7) and the nozzle slit (8) extends from the cone edge ofthe cone diameter to one of the two visible edges of the conical tip(7).
 3. The surgical device of claim 2, wherein the nozzle slit (8) isV-shaped and forms an angled, flat fluid jet (9).
 4. The surgical deviceof claim 1, wherein the angle (α) is formed in a direction opposite tothe conical tip (7) and the nozzle slit (8) extends parallel to at leastone of the two visible edges of the conical tip (7).
 5. The surgicaldevice of claim 4, wherein the nozzle slit (8) is V-shaped and forms anangled fluid jet (9).
 6. The surgical device of claim 1, wherein atleast two separate nozzle jets (8) are arranged on the surface of theconical tip (7), which produce diverging flat fluid jets (9), whichtogether assumed the shape of an impeller.
 7. The surgical deviceaccording to one or more of claims 1, wherein the suction tube (2) hasas many rows of suction openings (4) as there are peeling surfaces (13),and each row of suction openings is oriented towards the side of thepeeling surface (13) and the location of at least one of the separationtips (10).